#Mets’ direction was huge James McCann selling point

James McCann is the second significant free-agent acquisition for the Mets this offseason, but it’s clear their biggest addition is the guy signing the checks.

With new owner Steve Cohen showing a willingness to spend — to go along with the enthusiasm of a fan — there’s a different way of doing business in Queens.

McCann — who inked a four-year, $40.6 million deal to become the Mets’ catcher — said he was won over by where the team appears to be going.

“I think one thing for me, personally, was the direction the New York Mets were headed in,’’ MCann said in a Zoom call Thursday. “From the moment we heard from the Mets this offseason, they were definitely a team high on the list, just because of the guys they have in the clubhouse, but also the addition of the new owner, Sandy [Alderson, team president] and Jared [Porter, new general manager]. Everything is trending in the right direction. That made the New York Mets obviously a very attractive landing spot.”

McCann follows reliever Trevor May to the Mets, and Alderson sounded confident other targets will feel the same way after years of the organization’s penny-pinching.

“I don’t think we have to sell our future,’’ Alderson said. “I think the excitement surrounding the Mets right now is self-evident, and we don’t really have to spin that. We don’t have to add to it. We don’t have to reach [for] hyperbole. People know who we are now, where we’re going, and as a result, I think that part of the conversation disappears, and we get to talk more about nuts and bolts.”

Whether those conversations result in a bigger signing, such as George Springer, remains to be seen, and for all the positive vibes around the Mets, the roster doesn’t look much different than it did at the end of last season.

The arrival of McCann, the Mets believe, will help jump-start the team’s improvement.

McCann, 30, is just two years removed from being non-tendered by the Tigers, which he said Thursday was “the best thing that could have happened for my career.”

He reevaluated what he was doing, both at the plate and behind it, then went on to have two standout seasons for the White Sox before hitting free agency — and he was the second-best catcher available, behind J.T. Realmuto.

The Mets are taking a chance, betting McCann’s career turnaround will continue and that his defensive skills will make a strong rotation better.

Alderson pointed to McCann’s “commitment to being better,’’ as well as “his relationship with pitchers and ability to develop our staff.”

McCann took strides last season in improving his pitch-framing skills after working with ex-Met Jerry Narron in the offseason. He adjusted his setup and has embraced analytics, but doesn’t rely on them completely.

“The game has become so number-based and so heavily focused on analytics and metrics, I think that’s very important,’’ McCann said. “There’s so many numbers, they can almost paralyze you.”

He stressed, though, that he uses what he sees and his knowledge of each pitcher to get the best out of each one, instead of being “a robot” who is married to numbers.

At the plate, McCann said he spent months watching video of himself following his release by the Tigers to get back to the hitter he was before an ugly 2018 season, during which he finished with a career-worst .581 OPS.

McCann blamed the falloff on losing sight of who he was offensively and said he tried to be too much like Detroit teammates Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez, Ian Kinsler and J.D. Martinez.

“I went back to who I was when I first got to the big leagues,’’ McCann said.

The result was a pair of stellar years in Chicago — and a payday from the Mets.

Now, he just has to live up to some new expectations